Team Stats

Passing Yards

Rushing Yards

Turnovers

Time of Poss.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Defending league
champion Penn prevailed in a battle of Ivy League unbeatens
Saturday afternoon at the Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field,
withstanding a late Yale comeback for a 27-20 win. The Bulldogs got
331 passing yards from junior quarterback Patrick
Witt, including a pair of touchdowns, but the Quakers had
one score set up by an interception and also got a 53-yard punt
return for a touchdown.

"We made too many mistakes against a good football team
that's well-coached.," said Tom Williams, Yale's
Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of Football.

A Family Weekend crowd of 22,293 added to the atmosphere at the
Bowl as two teams with their sights set on the Ivy League title
collided. Ultimately, Yale had the edge in total offense (360 to
308) but could not overcome some crucial missteps.

The Yale defense came up with a big stand to start the game when
Penn drove to the Yale 27 and tried a fourth-down run that was
stuffed by senior outside linebacker Jesse
Reising. The offense then got a pair of big passes from
Witt – one a 29-yarder to senior wide receiver Gio
Christodoulou and the other a 25-yarder to senior wide
receiver Jordan Forney – to get the ball to
the Penn 22. Sophomore placekicker Philippe Panico
drilled a 39-yard field goal from there to give Yale a 3-0 lead at
3:50 of the first quarter.

Penn (5-1, 3-0 Ivy League) got on the scoreboard with an 87-yard
drive early in the second quarter. Ryan Becker,
who alternated with Billy Ragone at quarterback all game, came on
for his first series and completed a key 20-yard pass on
third-and-10 to wide receiver David Wurst. Running back Jeff Jack
capped the drive by grabbing a pass from Becker and ducking through
the Yale defense for a 17-yard touchdown. Penn missed the extra
point but still led 6-3.

The Quakers grabbed a field position edge by executing a
surprise onside kick after the touchdown; while Penn could not get
any points it did pin Yale at its own 19 with a punt. When the
Bulldogs punted from their own 15 after a sack, running
back/defensive back Bradford Blackmon returned it 53 yards for a
touchdown. The extra point put Penn up 13-3 at 4:30 of the
second.

The Bulldogs' defense then came up with a much-needed
turnover when senior strong safety Adam Money
grabbed an overthrown pass at midfield.

"We knew they were going to try to run the ball,"
Money said (Penn ran 45 times for 149 yards). "When they
threw the ball we hoped we'd have the opportunity to get a
turnover. The ball was a little behind the receiver. I just read it
well and made a play on it."

The offense overcame at third-and-17 at the Penn 45 by getting a
pair of completions from Witt to Christodoulou that got the ball to
the 25 with 1:16 left in the first half. But a holding call negated
a completion to sophomore wide receiver Chris
Smith that would have gotten the ball to the goal line.
Yale eventually punted and the Quakers ran out the clock.

Penn got the ball to start the second half and executed a
clock-chewing drive that ended with fullback Luke DeLuca plunging
over the goal line on third-and-goal from inside the one-yard line.
The 14-play drive took 6:48 and gave Penn a 20-3 lead at 8:07 of
the third quarter.

"The first drive of the second half -- you can't let
that happen," said senior defensive end Tom
McCarthy, Yale's captain. "That really set the
tone for the second half. It was a great drive by Penn."

The Bulldog defense gave the home crowd something to cheer about
by stopping a Penn drive at the Yale 45 thanks in part to
back-to-back tackles by senior outside linebacker John
Pagliaro -- one for a loss and one for no gain. The
Quakers punted and the Yale offense started off at its own 14.

A fumbled snap on the ensuing Yale possession gave Penn the ball
at the Yale 24. But on the first play from there, junior free
safety Geoff Dunham intercepted a pass in the end
zone and returned it to the 18.

That turnover set up a touchdown drive, as the Bulldogs got a
pass interference call in the end zone while trying to convert a
third-and-six from the Penn 11. Given a second chance, Yale took
advantage with Witt lofting a pass to the end zone for sophomore
wide receiver Allen Harris -- Harris' first
career touchdown. Panico's extra point brought Yale within
20-10 with 14:50 left.

Penn missed a 45-yard field goal early in the fourth but
immediately got the ball back when defensive lineman Brandon
Copeland batted a pass in the air and grabbed it when it came down,
returning the ball seven yards to the Yale 11. Four plays later
DeLuca plowed into the end zone from inches away again and the
Quakers had a 17-point lead.

Yale (4-2, 2-1 Ivy League) still had a chance to get back in the
game, but Smith was ruled out of bounds on a throw into the end
zone from 21 yards out on a fourth down with 8:23 to play.

The Bulldogs were able to get one more touchdown when the
defense forced a Quaker punt from the Penn 14. Yale got the ball
back at the Penn 46, and Witt completed four straight passes to get
the ball into the end zone. The last was a four-yarder to Forney
that pulled Yale within 10, but just 1:22 remained. Money recovered
the onside kick, and that enabled Panico to come on for a 26-yard
field goal with 13 seconds left. But the attempted onside kick
after that sailed out of bounds, giving Penn the chance to run out
the clock.

Despite being handed a league loss, Williams took positives out
of the way his team responded after trailing by 17 at two different
points in the second half.

"I told the team in the locker room, I don't care
what our record is, I love this group of men," Williams said.
"That was a great example at the end of the game today. These
guys never quit."

Yale hosts Columbia next Saturday at Noon. The Lions lost to
Dartmouth on Saturday. With Brown's win over Cornell and
Harvard's win over Princeton, the Bulldogs are now tied with
the Crimson at 2-1 in the Ivies, behind 3-0 Brown and Penn.